DIY Woven Concrete Doormat

Sometimes things we love, seemingly unrelated, come together in a unexpected way, such as in this doormat.

One day the idea of combining “weaving”, “concrete”, and “modules” appeared out of nowhere.

This doormat is made of concrete modules that are woven together. All you need are very simple tools and materials to make it.

There are so many creative variations you can play with, such as paints, different colored ropes and shapes of the doormat!

Related Project: DIY concrete modular wall planters.

Materials and tools:

( Some of the helpful resources are affiliate links. Full disclosure here. )

• Quikcrete ready-to-use concrete mix and containers to mix concrete. I used half of a 60 lb. bag for the doormat. A  hand trowel is great for mixing concrete.
• Important: wear dust mask and rubber gloves ! Concrete is very dusty and alkaline to work with.
• I used two packs of  this 5/32″ hollow braided yellow poly rope, which is very durable and good for outdoors. Feel free to use other types of ropes you like!
• magazine paper, hot glue and glue gun for making concrete molds

Step 1: Create concrete molds

Cut paper into 0.7″ wide strips and tape it into a circle, using a soda bottle or a tine can as a guide.

These circles measure 4.25″ in diameter. I find the thicker paper on magazine covers or card stock work great for this step. Also make some paper rings at about 1.5″ in diameter to keep the centers hollow. Just make sure the ropes can fit through this hole while weaving.

To make a 30″x20″ doormat you will need to make 27 modules.

Place sheets of paper on a flat and sturdy surface such as a piece of plywood, Use hot glue and glue the paper “ring molds” on. Glue the smaller ring molds at the center of each piece.

Step 2: Mix and pour concrete into molds

Follow the instructions on the bag and mix a small batch at a time using a   hand trowel .

Concrete hardens quickly and should not be mixed again with water to make it workable, that’s why small batches. The concrete should have a consistency of thick cake batter.

Pack the concrete mix down gently to fill each mold to the top. If a big piece of aggregate won’t pack down, just pick it out.

This is the same process we used to make our concrete picture frame!

Step 3: Curing concrete

Let the pieces stay in the molds and cure for at least 5 days by misting them daily and covering them under plastic sheets. This is a very important step to ensure that the concrete hardens as much as possible so they don’t chip or break. The more moisture you can keep in the plastic the better.

By day 2 or 3, we can take the pieces out of the mold and return them to curing.

Below is a chart from a great book Creative Concrete Ornaments for the Garden. It shows why the first 5-7 days are so important in the concrete curing process.

After the curing process, we can start weaving!

Step 4: Weave the doormat

There are hundreds of ways to tie knots. These close up pictures show what I did. If you come up with better ways, go for it!

First we will connect the straight rows, alternating with 5 or 6 modules in each row. Use two pieces of rope, crossing each other as they go through the middle hole, and tie a knot at the end before add a new concrete piece.

I unraveled the ends of the ropes to create little golden tassels! Like on these DIY rope shelves!

Never too many tassels in life!

Then the diagonals.

Until you have THIS!

If you plan to move this 30 lb mat a lot, you can weave them in two sections- one with 2 rows, the other 3. The weight will keep them in place.

Super excited about our one-of-a-kind concrete doormat! Thanks to Quikcrete team for hosting the #QUIKRETE1BagWonder contest that got me started on the concrete fun again!  =)

Another modular geometric DIY you might enjoy: Super space-saving and sturdy shoe rack made from cardboard!

See you in September! … Already?

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